Chapter 11: November

By November the short daylength limited how much birding I could do before and after work, and my number of outings decreased substantially relative to the preceding two months. I continued checking the White Rock waterfront as I was still missing several alcid species and was expecting the appearance of Ancient Murrelets any day.  

Ancient Murrelet is a fairly recent addition to the SemiPen bird list, with the first record at the White Rock pier dating back only to October 2017. This seems hard to believe considering the White Rock pier now has a reputation as one of the most reliable locations to see Ancient Murrelets in Metro Vancouver. They have been seen almost every year since and sometimes by the dozens. I believe this is a fairly recent phenomenon since the White Rock pier has received coverage from birders for decades and surely such a passage of Ancient Murrelets would not have gone undetected. 

On November 6, I spotted a distant murrelet while scoping from Kwomais Point. White scapulars on uniformly dark upperparts identified this one as a Marbled Murrelet, which in recent years has become the harder of the two murrelet species to find on the SemiPen so I was pleased. On the 8th there were three female Redheads at the White Rock Pier. The first report of Ancient Murrelets from the White Rock pier came on the 24^th, and I caught up to them on the 29^th; three separate groups totalling fifteen individuals. However, I still could not find a Common Murre. 

Redheads at White Rock Pier (Nov 8, 2024)

Over at Blackie Spit, small flocks of Black-bellied Plovers from Boundary Bay continued gathering on the pilings at high tide, each time bringing something different. On the 5^th I found two Red Knots with this flock and on the 16^th a late Short-billed Dowitcher. Both species continued to be seen sporadically throughout the month. The now resident Willet would often roost with this group, sometimes joined by the second Willet from Boundary Bay. A lingering Lesser Yellowlegs also continued throughout the month. 

Short-billed Dowitcher at Blackie Spit (Nov 16, 2024)